Comcast workers are back in Center City. Their return is ‘flexible’ — but it’s already rejuvenating downtown

Comcast employees trooped back to Center City this past week as part of the company’s national “return to office” policy.

On Thursday at lunchtime, the food court underneath Comcast headquarters buzzed with a back-to-school vibe, with workers waiting in line at restaurant counters, and Cafe Click restaurant’s outdoor tables full. Sunseekers snagged the public chairs on the plaza between 1700 and 1800 JFK Boulevard, and the Vernick cafe in Comcast Technology Center seated lunchgoers who hadn’t seen each other in person in months or even years.

The return of Comcast employees to the office signals a noteworthy moment in Philadelphia’s pandemic recovery, bringing thousands of people back into Center City after more than two years of working from home.

A corporate memo sent to Comcast employees in August said all staffers — including the 8,000 who work in Comcast’s two Philadelphia towers — were expected to work in person on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

In practice, it’s more flexible.

» READ MORE: Comcast workers told to come back to office in-person 3 days a week

One Comcast user experience engineer who works in the Comcast Technology Center, described the return-to-office policy as “fairly relaxed.”

“My boss told us that we’re flexible. Our team is flexible. We’re not going to be here all the time,” said the engineer, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The engineer said the team is expected to be in the office for larger meetings or to collaborate with other teams, but “the vibe I got was loosey-goosey. We’re supposed to show face a few times a week or a month, but no one’s getting fired” for not coming in.

Reviews on Glassdoor the first week of return-to-office showed not every Comcast employee is happy about in-person work. At least one person, who said they were a senior manager based in Philadelphia, wrote that one downside of working at the media giant included “making everyone return to office for no reason.”

The campus is starting to return to a post-pandemic normal, and a spokesperson said, “We’re being very flexible. We want to work with employees to understand their situation to get back into the office.” Comcast wouldn’t say how many employees returned this past week.

In recent weeks, more employees have been commuting back into Center City.

Placer.ai found a steady increase in workers returning to Philadelphia throughout 2022: August nonresident workers increased to 56% of the 2019 level, up from 53% in July. The highest numbers occur on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, when some have designated days to work in offices. Placer.ai estimates the daily population in core Center City based on anonymized mobile phone location data, with separate estimates for the number of residents, workers, shoppers and tourists who are physically present.

Concessions giant Aramark said all employees are now “fully back” in the office, at its new 2400 Market St. headquarters. The company said its approximately 900 employees are working “here in our headquarters. And no mandated days, we’re a full work-from-office company,” according to a spokeswoman.

FMC Tower, across the river, has approximately 500 employees working at the chemical company, and finished bringing everyone back to the office in mid-July 2021. “We have a two-day-a-week flex allowance that many of our employees use to work from home, so our actual in-office population varies day to day,” said a company spokesperson in an email.

» READ MORE: FMC’s chief executive talks pesticides and his company’s $200 million deal for a sustainable crop protection start-up

But Comcast’s return had an immediate impact.

Robert Zuritsky, head of Parkway Corp., which owns thousands of parking spots downtown, said commuter garages in Center City were packed this past week, “and people who work from home in the suburbs are also coming in Fridays to go to dinner, or a show or meet friends.”

SEPTA’s ridership also increased by approximately 5% to over 476,000 one-way trips the week ending Sept. 14, said spokesman Andrew Busch. That’s still about half of pre-COVID levels.

“As far as going back to work in person, we’re seeing customers in the multifamily apartment buildings, especially developers, retrofitting buildings so people can work-play-live at home,” said 215Secure head Dave Pearson, citing 1001 South Broad and Washington Avenue, a Post Brothers development, as one example. “That’s the model for the two days that people work from home, while working in office three days.”

On Wednesday, representatives from Center City District, a membership organization and lobbying group for downtown employers, were in Comcast’s lobby to hand out information about Restaurant Week, discounts to theaters and museums and other perks to employees — some of whom had not been downtown in over two years.

Early data from Center City District show an increase in people walking around downtown, likely thanks to Comcast’s return. Foot traffic on the 1700 block of John F. Kennedy Boulevard on Sept. 13 totaled just over 8,000 people, according to the Center City District pedestrian counters. That’s up 24% from August, and nearly double that of January.

Comcast employees’ return “is a significant impact,” said Paul Levy, president of the Center City District. “It’s great they’ve come back. It’s important to set the standard” for other employers.

Levy said others will take their cue from Comcast.

“Once one major employer starts to come back, those who haven’t can see what’s worked and hasn’t worked,” he added.

Still, whether more employees will return to offices or not will be clearer in the coming weeks and months, said one recruiter.

“It’s been a mixed bag,” said Sulaiman Rahman, president of DiverseForce, a recruiting firm. “We are seeing more companies ask employees to return to office for certain days of the week, but we are hearing from more and more candidates that they cannot see themselves going back to a traditional commute to the office,” Rahman said. “It will be interesting to see if companies can pull this off without paying a price through turnover.”

Among smaller companies, the family-owned investment firm Prudent Management Associates recently moved office space for their 12 employees. Their new address at Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street, has a smaller footprint than at their 1735 Market Street offices. “Smaller offices, less money,” said Fred Snitzer, managing director at the 40-year-old company.

“We think we have made some significant improvements, such as signing a new 10 year lease in center city and moving offices for the first time in 30 years,” he said. The investment firm has about $1 billion dollars under management.

Other employers, including tech companies, have chosen to remain hybrid by design, such as tech companies.

SageFrog Marketing transitioned to a hybrid work model in 2021, allowing employees to work remotely from home or in its Doylestown office. To help alleviate expenses, chief executive Mark Schmukler said the marketing firm offers a monthly stipend to all employees for gas or any work-from-home expenses such as cell phone bills, WiFi, and office supplies.

“We don’t plan on changing our current policies due to the gas inflation because it’s our employees’ discretion if they would like to work in the office,” said Schmukler.

Hybrid work offers an edge when hiring, he added. “Our hybrid work model is here to stay as it will allow us to expand our radius for top talent.”